Description & Analysis

In 1918, the Pittman Act was passed. It called for the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars in order to sell the silver to Britain to keep their currency afloat during the first World War. In total, 270,232,722 silver dollars were melted.

A key piece of the Pittman Act called for the replacement of all coins melted with new silver dollars. This was the reason that the Morgan dollar was resurrected in 1921. Unfortunately, the Mint had already destroyed the hubs for the Morgan dollar years earlier. Therefore, Morgan had to recreate entirely new master dies for the 1921 issue. This is why the 1921 Morgan dollars look very different from the earlier issues.

As was the case with the Denver and San Francisco mints, record numbers of Morgans were produced in Philadelphia this year. While available in high grade, including gem and above, the 1921 Morgan dollars are not as attractive as their earlier counterparts due to the different dies used as well as the rush in which they were struck.

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GRADE SUMMARY

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12/1/2004 — The Pittman Act of 1918 mandated that the millions of silver dollars melted under that legislation be replaced after the war with new ones struck from newly-mined, domestic silver...View full article >

10/1/2004 — One of my favorite dates for United States coinage is 1921. The obvious appeal of this date is, of course, that it includes several scarce and rare issues, but there's even more to the story.View full article >